Virgil sat in his usual place on the steps as Logan and Roman continued to bicker, they had been at each other for days, to the point that Thomas had called them, along with the moral side and himself to try and sort through the situation. To be honest, he had no idea what had the two so riled up, then again, he hadn't really had the time to pay that close of attention to the arguing duo.
He had been focused on more important matters as of late; rain had been lashing at the apartment for days, and what had been forecasted as a tropical storm had turned into a category three hurricane before it had even hit the coast line. Now Thomas and everyone else in the surrounding area were completely cut off by the intense weather. Anxiety had been working overtime since the prediction had changed; in trying to keep the others safe, while also doing his best to keep their host calm in case the situation became dire.
He'd tried to instill some sort of escape plan into their host's mind, but it seemed that the others weren't as concerned, and merely wanted to focus on their petty disputes, and why would they care; it wasn't their job to worry. Despite that, it was clear that being stuck in the house was beginning to take its toll on the traits; all of them, with the exception of Patton, had become increasingly sharp with one another and quicker to anger. Overall, he felt bad for his cheery counterpart, who had all but become the moderator of even the smallest debates, to keep them from developing into something similar to what the logical and fanciful aspects were doing now.
Shifting his focus, the darker facet was attempting to pay attention to the topic at hand, instead of the howling wind and rolling thunder outside. "Being stuck indoors, don't you think it would be of most use for Thomas to work on more important things, rather than be permitted to dream his life away?" Logan adjusted his tie at the end of his statement.
"I didn't know that coming up with ideas for videos counted as 'dreaming his life away!'" The Prince mimicked the tone of the side he was fighting against, "besides, what do you suggest he do instead? The internet is down and the power has been flickering, so it's not like he can really get much else done!"
The factual persona rolled his eyes, "there are plenty of tasks that need to be done, honestly, look around, this place is a mess."
Thomas didn't look too pleased with the most recent comment, and Morality was simply uncomfortable with the disagreement. The two silent characters shared a knowing glance; this was the exact kind of argument that Virgil used to have with Roman, but with them both being so up in arms; there was nothing anyone else could do to calm them down until the dispute had run its course.
A sharp crack of lightning outside caused them to jump, the lights blinked out for a moment before coming back to life, and jarred them all into a stunned quiet. The bolt had been closer than any of the others, and it seemed now that the traits who had previously been ignoring the real issue, were now coming to terms with just how serious it was. That realization clearly had a profound effect on their host, seeing as he suddenly didn't seem to care at all about the bickering, instead training his eyes on the window in the kitchen.
The feeling of panic crashed over him like a tsunami, the fear of the others was causing Thomas to become more uneasy by the second. Shifting his gaze, Virgil glared at the others, as a warning of what they were doing. Logan and Roman caught on quickly, but Patton was focused on the blinds behind him, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to have him standing so close to one of the doors. While the online personality was still distracted, the youngest emotion slowly stood and walked past Princey to his friend.
Placing his hand on his shoulder, the eldest whipped around to face him. Keeping his voice low, so as not to alert their host, he spoke to the terrified facet, "you need to get away from the door. Come over here and sit on the stairs with me." Without giving him a chance to protest, Anxiety began to guide him away from the threshold and back to where he usually resided.
As they settled, Thomas was able to pull his eyes away from the impending rain beyond the safety of the walls and registered the absence of his moral side, "what happened to Patton?"
"I'm over here kiddo, we thought it would be a bit safer if I wasn't standing in front of the back door." Their host cast his gaze to where the trait in question was now sitting a few steps above his gloomier counterpart. He slowly nodded in agreement as the other two regained their bearings and continued to argue.
Having more to worry about wasn't something that Thomas needed at the moment, but judging from the fact that the sense of panic slackened, it was clear that the heated debate was helping to distract him from the storm. Begrudgingly Anxiety kept his mouth shut, if the online personality wasn't as scared, it would make his job of watching out for any danger that the weather may cause a little easier.
Their host's focus continued to shift back and forth over the course of the next hour, every time the power would blink, a gust of wind would cause rain to lash at the windows, or a few minutes of hail would pelt the roof. However, the other aspects had stopped being serious about their altercation a while ago, instead using the most ridiculous topics they could come up with to pull Thomas back to the conversation and keep him distracted.
Another fifteen minutes went by and for the moment, the focus was on the physical embodiments of his personality, allowing Virgil to be somewhat more aware of his surroundings. A soft cracking above them drew his attention away from the others; it wasn't the same as the distant thunder or any of the other sounds caused by the storm. Discreetly casting his eyes upwards, he noticed a fissure in the ceiling that had not been there a few moments ago.
Dread caused a chill to rush down his spine, as if someone had draped a cold washcloth across the back of his neck. The dark figure had been counting each time he'd heard one of the shingles blow off the roof, and now he was aware that the damage had become substantial enough to cause a hazard to them.
The place where the roof was losing its structural integrity was just above their host, but in the area between where each of the sides were standing, making it unlikely that any of the others would be severely hurt when it collapsed. Therefore, he concentrated on the one who was at the most risk; but kept his gaze trained on the growing fracture. Anxiety cut off whatever it was that Roman had been saying, "Thomas you need to step back," his voice was cold and with the same intensity that it had had when he was trying to get the others out of his room.
Each of them turned to look at him in confusion, their host in particular, "what? What do you mean?"
Using his powers to give him a sense of urgency, the youngest facet let his voice rise into the silence that his first statement had created, "back up...now!"
Cautiously their host began moving backwards, unaware of the danger, instead seeming to think he had said something to anger him, "did I...did I do something wrong?"
He wasn't moving fast enough, the ceiling was beginning to cave in, and if he didn't get out of the way, he could be seriously injured by the falling debris. "Move back!" As Virgil yelled the words, he lunged at Thomas, using his forearm to strike him across the chest. The online personality stumbled backwards from the blow and tripped over the coffee table, landing on his back between it and the sofa. The others gasped in shock at the violent reaction, obviously unaware of why he had attacked their host, but it was enough; he was out of harm's way. Knowing that, the youngest trait jumped towards where Morality normally would have been standing, in an attempt to get himself out of danger. However, he wasn't fast enough this time; the support beams holding up the plaster roofing gave way, and the wreckage came crashing down. A large piece of wood from one of the beams fell against his back, knocking him to the floor in the process, pinning him there. Putting his arms across the back of his head, he could feel the searing pain in one of them as he did so, and tried as best he could to protect himself as the rest of the mortar and splinters rained down around him. Anxiety was hardly aware of the others' shocked and worried exclamations, as he stifled a reaction to the piercing pain he felt in his back, arm, and chest, and his vision slowly faded to black.
Patton couldn't believe his eyes as Virgil rushed forwards, knocking their host halfway across the room. No matter how angry he had been in the past, whether that was angled at Roman or Deceit, he had never physically attacked anyone else. Without warning the darker character jumped towards the back door as the moral facet heard a groaning above them, suddenly he couldn't see any of the others through the falling debris and dust that it stirred up. He now understood what his counterpart had done; he hadn't been trying to hurt Thomas, quite the opposite, he'd been trying to save his life.
As the gasps of shock subsided, Logan's voice pierced through the powdered plaster that still hung thickly in the air, "Is anyone hurt?"
Morality held back a cough, "I'm okay kiddo."
Another's tone rose up, clearly winded from a strong impact, "I'm alright...thanks to Virgil."
There was a long moment of silence, which was only broken by the occasional piece of the ceiling falling loose and the rain that now poured freely into the living room. As the air began to clear, logic's silhouette was slightly visible off to his left now, "Roman, Virgil, are you two all right?"
The Prince's shaky call caused Patton to freeze in his tracks, "I'm okay, but I'm not so sure Virgil is, he got caught in the collapse."
"What happened?" Thomas and Logan both sounded shocked, while the father figure was too upset to speak.
As more of the dust settled, he was able to make out the shape of the fanciful side on his knees, trying to shift some of the rubble. "He jumped for the backdoor; where Patton usually stands, but one of the support beams caught him on the back...help me get him out!" The other three uninjured individuals quickly but carefully picked their way to where Roman was trying to help their friend. "Patton, Thomas, you two look for the other end of this beam and help me lift it! Logan, you get Virgil out of the way once we do, and let us know when it's safe to put it down again!"
Before the moral figment had time to think, he was side-by-side with his host, digging through the soaked plaster and splinters to find the other end of the piece of wood. Neither seemed to care or even notice the rain that was now soaking them both.
After what felt like an eternity they uncovered what they hoped was the beam they were looking for, and Thomas called out to his creative trait, "we found it!"
"Okay, on my count lift it as high as you can!" Morality had never seen the second-youngest look so frightened, which made him uneasy, would Virgil be okay? "One...two...three...lift!" The large piece of wood was extremely heavy but together, the three of them managed to get it about a foot and a half above where it had been resting, and hold it there.
The seconds went by slowly, and the only reason Patton could deal with the pain of holding so much weight was because he knew it was the only way he could help his son. Just when he thought they wouldn't be able to keep it elevated for much longer the logical aspect's tone broke the silence, "You can put it down now." In unison, they let go of the beam and it fell to the ground with a thud. He answered the next question before it was even asked, "It's shallow, but he is breathing!" The father figure nearly fell to the floor at the sight of Virgil lying unconscious in front of the factual and fanciful facets, his jacket torn and covered in crushed plaster, and his arm twisted in an odd direction. A force braced his shoulder, he didn't have to look over; he knew it was Thomas who had caught him. Slowly he managed to stand on his own two feet; he had to be strong for Anxiety, and made his way over to the others, their host following in close pursuit.
It was clear that Logan had taken control from Roman, their arguments in the past, because now the situation required a leader capable of staying calm and giving clear and precise instructions. They watched in silence as Logic removed the darker persona's jacket and gently pressed on each of the bones that could have been affected by the collapse. Morality couldn't help but notice the horizontal scars on his friend's arms and knew he would talk to him about them later, but for now there were more important matters to attend to. As the teacher continued, he spoke, not looking away from his patient, "Thomas I need a bowl of warm water, two cloths, rubbing alcohol and any other first-aid supplies you have!" Under the stress of the situation even Logan's professionalism was beginning to crack, but their host did as he was asked. "We need to stop this rain from pouring in here, Roman, Patton I need you two to find a way to do that."
He had no idea of how to go about the task, but the creative side was thankfully the one he was working with. With a snap of his fingers, a large tarp and a few other supplies appeared on the sofa. Standing on any surface they knew would bear their weight, they made their way around the room and fastened the thin plastic over the area in such a way that the water ran off into the gutter over the backdoor.
As the pair of them jumped down off of the coffee table, Morality watched Thomas run past them with everything the logical trait had asked for. He took the items and with steady hands began cleaning off and bandaging any cuts or lacerations. While he worked, the others stood looking on helplessly as moment after moment ticked by. Once the surface wounds were taken care of, he reached for the ace bandages and started wrapping a make-shift sling around Virgil's right arm.
"I-Is he going to be okay?" Patton hadn't even realized their host was in tears until his voice caught as he asked the question.
Not taking his eyes off of Anxiety, Logan answered with a quiet voice, "yes he'll be okay. His right arm is broken in two places, and it would seem there is a large fracture in one of his collar-bones, and possibly a few broken ribs. None of the bones in his back are broken however, only bruised; that's a good sign, and his breathing has steadied and deepened." They each held their breath as he continued, "and thankfully he must have still been conscious when he hit the floor, because he put his arms over his head, so there is no damage in any way to his skull...had he been any further from the door..." He trailed off obviously not wanting to say what he was thinking.
"The beam would have hit his head...and it probably would have killed him, wouldn't it?" Princey was the one to pick up where his logical counterpart had left off. With a nod of agreement implying he was correct, he looked at his feet. "I saw him dart for safety after knocking Thomas out of the way...I watched the beam fall on him...and when he didn't get back up..."
Logan looked up at him, "don't feel guilty Roman. If you had tried to stop that piece of wood from hitting him, you could have been injured too, and besides, he's going to be fine. He just needs some time to rest." Casting his gaze around at the others, his tone changed from comforting back to professional, "We need to get him on his back, it's putting strain on the fracture in his collarbone for him to be lying like this." Without having to be asked, Roman and Patton both moved to help, together, the two of them, with directions from the third were able to gently move their friend off the floor and to the couch, where they laid him on his back.
After that it was a waiting game, each of them seemed to be on edge, trying to look out for any danger, because Virgil wasn't awake to do so. Meanwhile, the wind whipped at the tarp that had been placed over the hole in the roof, and multiple times the fanciful side had had to get up and re-secure it.
Knowing how much Anxiety hated not having his jacket, and with his new one ruined, Morality briefly returned to the mind-palace. He made his way upstairs and stopped in front of an all black door, bracing himself he entered the room. He knew he didn't have long, he couldn't risk letting the room get to him without the youngest aspect being there to get him out, but he couldn't help but marvel at what he saw. Instead of the cobweb covered, black room he had seen when they had come to find him, the room now took on colors of blue and purple as well. There were more pictures on the walls too, stopping to look at one of them he couldn't help but smile. It was a picture that Logan had taken on Patton's birthday, the three in the photo had on party hats, and he was being held in the air by Roman and Virgil. One of the few times they had worked together with no quarrel between them, and in the bottom right corner was a caption, a line the logical facet had said when taking the picture. "It's Patton's birthday, and suddenly I'm the last mature adult left in this household."
Shifting his eyes to another photo, he saw one of all four of them standing together in the commons; it was taken just after the Fitting In video. Princey had insisted on having the picture made and given to each of them to commemorate the costume change, but as he had later said to him, it was also to commemorate Virgil truly being part of the group. That was something he apparently had figured out considering the photograph was in a frame that had the word Family written at the bottom.
The moral side could have stayed there all day looking at the multitudes of pictures that were littered across the walls and surfaces, but he knew he had to be quick. Looking over to the hooks hanging on the closet door, he found what he had come into the room for. Picking up Anxiety's old black and grey hoodie, he synced back into the real world.
A stunned look from Logan expressed how he disagreed with Patton taking such a risk, but he didn't say anything about it as he took the jacket and laid it next to their friend. He was helping Roman and Thomas to try and clean up as much of the mess as they could so Morality joined them. Picking up clumps of wet plaster and particle board, and placing them in garbage bags that they would take out when the weather cleared up a bit. There were no words spoken, no slights, no jokes, just the sounds of the storm outside as they worked in silence. When they had gotten the bulk of the mess cleaned up, the four of them worked to roll the beam that had injured the anxious aspect to one side of the room so it would no longer be a hazard to anyone. After that Logic tended to each of their hands, pulling out any splinters they may have gotten from cleaning up the wreck of what had once been the ceiling.
Patton had stepped up to take the splinters from Logan's hands while Roman and Thomas stood in the kitchen discussing better ideas for fixing the roof for the time being. Just as he was removing the last of the tiny pieces of wood from his counterpart's hands, he heard a sharp intake of breath from the sofa. Dropping the tweezers, both the moral and factual facets quickly made their way to their friend's side.
He looked up at them, fear glittering behind his eyes, "w-what happened?"
Logan began his explanation immediately, "one of the support beams came down on your back and-"
"N-No, that's not what I meant," he winced as he tried to sigh. "I know what happened to me...what I want to know is; what happened to Thomas and Roman, are they okay?"
Morality answered quickly, "yes, they're both fine." He paused briefly, "Virgil...you saved Thomas's life." The look of relief on Anxiety's face was better than any gift he could have given him.
"Good, if Thomas is safe...then I don't mind being injured." As he spoke, Logan made his way into the kitchen to get the others.
Patton looked at him in confusion, "what do you mean kiddo?"
The darker side seemed to understand what he was asking, but took a few slow breaths before replying. "I mean, if I succeeded in doing my job, in making sure that Thomas was safe...then that means I can constitute the injuries. Since he's okay...I can dull the pain by thinking about why I'm hurt...I got hurt saving his life, if you ask me...that's worth the pain, don't you agree?"
The moral trait's vision was blurred by tears, Virgil really had come around, he didn't want to hurt, or let anyone else get hurt anymore, and that meant more to him than he could ever say. "Of course I agree son...you know we'd all lay down our lives for each other if it came down to it."
He winced as he tried to chuckle, "well I came pretty close to doing that today...I just hope Thomas isn't angry with me for attacking him."
"Angry? You saved my life, how could I be angry with you for that?" Morality turned to see the person in question standing in the entrance of the hall, with Logan and Roman just behind him, "and for the record, I don't consider someone knocking me out of harm's way an attack."
Anxiety closed his eyes briefly, "well that's a relief."
"You had us worried there for a moment Hot Topic." There was no indication of a slight in Princey's voice, only light-hearted banter.
Virgil shifted his gaze to look at the aspect he had at a time, always been against, and spoke with the same joking tone, "you worried? That's a first Sir Sing-A-Lot."
Roman was clearly amused by the comeback, but took on a more concerned demeanor. "In all seriousness though..." He stopped for a moment, his voice much quieter as he continued, "I'm glad you're okay."
The dark aspect smiled in his snarky way, "what was that?"
"You heard me perfectly well, I'm not repeating myself." While seeming indignant, Patton knew that over time the two had become friends, but the fanciful facet wouldn't admit it if he didn't have to; and, neither would Anxiety now that he thought about it.
Looking over to Logan, the youngest persona used his dry humor to try and make a difficult question, a little easier to answer, another sign that he really did care about them. "So teach, what's the damage?"
"I'm taking it you mean about yourself and not the ceiling, well you have a fractured collar-bone, your arm is broken in two places, and you more than likely have a couple of cracked ribs. Your back, neck, and skull however, seem to be fine." Logic clearly knew as well as Morality, that Virgil wouldn't want the truth sugar-coated, but Thomas looked ashamed, as if the injuries were somehow his fault.
"That's all...well I'm in for a rough couple of months aren't I?" The sarcasm was thick in his tone, and as their host took a breath to speak, Anxiety beat him to it. "I know what you're thinking, because if it was the other way around...and it almost was, I would be thinking the same thing. You have no reason to feel guilty about what happened; it's my job to keep you safe...and as I told Patton, the fact that you are safe, makes the injuries worthwhile."
The online personality looked close to tears, "thanks Virge...still, I shouldn't have doubted you. I thought you were angry with me...when in reality, as always; you were just looking out for my well-being. If I had just moved back like you said..."
"I'd probably be dead," there was no hint of joking in his voice now, and his gaze was just as serious.
Thomas looked taken aback, "wh-what do you mean?"
"Think about it for a second Thomas, if you had moved back like I said, when the ceiling caved-in, you would have been the only one out of my sight. The one of us who's life matters the most, because if something happens to you, well it happens to all of us." He stopped, to take a breath, "if you had moved back, I would have lunged for you anyway, because I knew you were the only one in any real danger, and that would have put more distance between me and the backdoor, which is what I jumped for to try and avoid the collapse. I was still conscious when I hit the floor; do you really think I didn't know how close that beam was to killing me, if you had heeded my warning, there's no way I could have gotten out of the way in time." All of them were in a stunned silence at his words, "I don't say that to make you upset, but know this, if I can't see or hear you...I can't protect you, I realized my fault as I moved to knock you out of the way. When I turned to move away myself, I knew that beam was going to come down on me, and that's when I figured out, that in my desperation to keep you safe, I could have gotten myself killed. That's something I have to work on, tuning my fight or flight reflexes, not only to keep you all safe, but myself as well."
All of them were too shocked to say anything, not only had dark figure just admitted, that he did indeed care about all of them, but he had also admitted he was flawed, and moreover, he had just implied that he was okay with dying, but that wasn't entirely true. He didn't fear for his own life, instead for the others', knowing his death would leave them defenseless, and he was right. None of them had noticed that the roof was going to cave-in; they had been too busy arguing or trying to keep Thomas calm; meanwhile, the youngest had been doing all those things, as well as paying close attention to his surroundings.
Had he not been injured, they probably would have tacked hugged Anxiety, but each showed restraint in their own way. The moral side tried to voice his thoughts, but couldn't quite get his vocal chords to work, "V-Virgil..."
The trait in question looked at them each in turn, "okay you guys need to lighten up, because, worrying about what could have happened is my job. I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but you need to focus on what actually happened, not what could have happened." Morality began to giggle at the irony of who had just told them not to worry, and it wasn't long Roman joined in. Within the span of a few moments they were all laughing, Logan trying to stifle any show of emotion, and Anxiety who wasn't really trying at all, but was often cut off by a wince of pain.
It had been nearly three months since the harsh storm had caused the ceiling collapse; and no new Sanders Sides videos had gone up, so as not to worry the fans about Virgil's injuries. He had told the others that he didn't mind them making a few videos without him, but they wouldn't hear of it, claiming that it wouldn't be the same if they weren't all there. Therefore, the online personality had blamed the lack of uploads on the repairs to the roof taking longer than expected, but over time the anxious trait had grown restless. He had been bedridden for weeks after the incident, pain searing at him like hot coals across his chest, and if he had to guess, he would say he had broken at least 3 of his ribs. That was not to mention he hated having the others wait on him, but it wasn't like he'd had much of a choice.
Then there was the loneliness, Virgil liked being alone most of the time, but he hadn't realized how much he was actually in the commons with the others when he was well, and even if he wasn't talking, their presence was comforting to some extent. Anxiety understood that none of the traits could stay in his room though, so he only saw them for short periods of time throughout the day. Thomas however, wasn't affected by his room, and when he could spare the time, would come to the mind-palace and sit with him.
Overall, he wasn't happy with the predicament, the only consoling factor of the whole situation, was that he had indeed helped to save Thomas's, and by extension, all of the others' lives as well. That was the only thought that had kept him from going insane over the course of the agonizing weeks. After a while though, he was able to move around a bit, and spent most of his days on the couch in the common room, using that time to talk to his friends, and was actually able to come to a better understanding with them. Patton would talk to him and make puns from the kitchen as he made dinner, Logan would explain different scientific facts from whatever he was studying, and Roman would bounce ideas off him before taking them to their host.
Eventually, one morning, Logic deemed him well, and explained that any lingering pain would be from the lack of muscle use over the last few months. Be that as it may, Virgil was just glad that he wouldn't be confined to his bed or laying on the sofa anymore. He actually spent most of the day doing, or offering to do the others' chores, just to work off some of the energy he had from being an invalid for so long, ignoring the protests of pain in his legs. Seeing how much he had already done, Morality had refused to let him do the dishes after dinner, and insisted that even though he was no longer hurt, he didn't need to overdo it, and told him to get some rest.
Sitting on the sofa, and scrolling through Tumblr, Anxiety began to worry, now that he was better, the others might not continue to talk and work with him the way they had when he was injured. He stared at one of the walls as the thoughts rushed through his mind, and he didn't realize that his hands, which were still grasping his phone, slowly fell to his lap.
"Hey...are you okay kiddo?" He jumped, he hadn't heard Patton turn off the tap or make his way into the living room, and suddenly he noticed that his vision was blurred with tears. Quickly wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket, he nodded. "That was rhetorical son...I meant what's wrong?"
Virgil took a deep breath, glad that the motion no longer sent excruciating pain through his chest, "just thinking, that's all."
The father figure clearly didn't buy into his answer, "you've had three months to think, and in all that time, you didn't look as terrified as you do right now." The younger aspect looked back to his phone, not wanting to confess what had him so worked up, but it was obvious the elder wasn't going to allow that. "Virge, I know something's bothering you...your job may be to notice everything to keep us safe, but my job is to pick up on social cues and other's emotions, so that Thomas can react accordingly. Do you think I didn't see you wipe the tears from your eyes just now?"
He glanced over as Patton sat down on the edge of the couch; there was no way to lie to him, "I...I just...I feel like I've grown closer to you three over the last few weeks. Even though I wasn't able to do anything, you guys still went out of your way to make me feel included, whether that was just talking to me or working with me to come up with ideas or ways to act on them." He paused for a moment, trying not to let the fear he felt seep into his voice, "and now that I'm well again..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"You're afraid we'll stop talking to you, and things will go back to the way they were before you got hurt?" Virgil looked up at him in shock, he had never accounted for how attentive the moral facet could be sometimes; when it came down to it, he could read others like a book. Nodding slowly he continued, "kiddo, even if we wanted to, I don't think things could go back to the way they were before. All that time you spent talking with us or listening to us, strengthened the bonds we have, and from what I've seen, it would be difficult to reverse those changes."
Sighing he forced himself to speak, "how? I almost fade into a shadow when the three of you are together; it often feels like I'm not even there."
"Now we both know that's not quite true, even if we are all in the same room, we are aware of you, but you have made it pretty clear to us in the past, that you weren't really up for joining in on the conversation. We didn't address you, because we thought you wanted us to keep our distance, but I will tell you some things that the others have told me. Logan has said on multiple occasions, that it's nice for him to have someone to have an intellectual conversation with. Roman also made a point to explain to me...because I think he was a bit embarrassed to tell you himself, that most of the ideas that you helped him to sort though, actually ended up being used, and that made it easier for him to expand on them and come up with new ones. Then there's me, I always enjoy brightening someone's day with a ridiculous pun, and I don't think I've ever seen you smile as much as you did when you were injured. I wasn't the only one who got you to smile either, I noticed you stifle a laugh when Logan was finally able to use the word infinitesimal correctly, or the snarky grins when you and Roman would get into some light-hearted debate over an outrageous idea." Anxiety dared to lift his head, "Son, we know you care about us, and we care about you too, it just took us a while to figure out the best ways to express that. I do honestly believe that if you let us, we will continue to talk to you the same way we did when you were injured. To be honest, it was never the injuries that caused us to talk to you in the first place...you had been reclused to your room for so long before you were able to move around at all, and when you were finally able to come join us in the commons, it was you who started the conversations, something that initially surprised all of us. Either way, we were glad to be able to talk to you again...I know it must have been lonesome, not being able to have the rest of us come visit when you were bedridden, but that spurred you to be more social with us when you weren't. How we treat you from here on out depends on how you want us to, if you want us to keep talking to you the same way we have been, just continue to start and react to conversations the same way you did when you were hurt. Whether or not you have a sling on your arm doesn't affect the relations you have with us."
Patton knew Virgil understood as he nodded in agreement, but didn't have time to respond before Princey poked his head out from the staircase, "hey, do you guys think Thomas could do a front flip from the top of the stairs if he placed his mattress at the bottom?" He looked thoughtfully down the steps, "hmm...perhaps I should try it first!" With that he disappeared back onto the second floor, presumably to go and get his mattress.
Anxiety scrambled to get up from the couch and ran after him, "Roman! So help me if you try to flip down these stairs!"
"Oh lighten up Hot Topic! It'll be fun!" Morality followed them to the base of the steps to help his son. He paused however, because something told him that the fanciful side had only made the suggestion so the youngest would try to stop him.
"No it won't! You're going to get yourself killed!" The darker trait disappeared into the hall above him.
Suddenly Logan's tone joined into the fray of steps, "what are you two doing?" Muffled words must have held some sort of answer, because he continued, "it could be possible. Considering the stairs are around twelve feet high and about ten feet in length from top to bottom, if you were sure to land on the bend where Virgil sits during videos, and not on your neck, you could be safe." At the final statement, Patton began to make his way to join the others, knowing the Prince wasn't really was serious about the idea.
"Don't encourage him!" The father figure heard Anxiety's call as he reached the top, and just in time to see Roman fall against the wall next to his bedroom door, unable to speak through his laughter. The youngest merely looked confused at the change in demeanor, which only served to make the creative aspect more hysterical, causing even Logic to get to the point where he was trying to stifle a smile.
Slowly as he regained his bearings from the hilarity, Princey addressed the anxious facet, "p-perhaps it's not such a good idea." He drew out the word 'idea,' and Virgil seemed to pick up on what Morality had guessed from the start.
"Wait, this was all a joke?" There was amusement behind the shock in his statement.
The three looked to the one who had come up with the idea, "Patton told us while you were offering to do all of our chores today, that you may feel like we wouldn't look to you as much now that you had healed." He paused, clearly trying not to start laughing again, "so together we came up with this insane idea, to show you, that we really do listen, and take your input into account." He glanced to the other two, "like I said, Patton was the one who noticed how you felt, I came up with the idea, and then Logan actually measured the stairs...which wasn't necessary, I'm not really going to try and do a flip down them."
"Well I wasn't going to give inaccurate information," It looked to him as if Logic wasn't even trying to stop himself from smiling now.
Virgil turned to look at the moral side, "you knew how I felt even before I did?"
He pulled his son into an embrace, "I told you, my role is to pick up on how others feel, of course I did kiddo."
As he pulled away, Anxiety turned to face the other two, "thanks guys."
Roman seemed happy that his plan had indeed worked, "you're one of us Virge, nothing's going to change that." At that he pulled the younger into a hug as well, and without a second thought, the other two joined as well, making sure Virgil would never again doubt that he was a part of the family.
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